Happy Birthday Madiba!
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
I know it's a cliche, but I'm completely unashamed to say it: I think Nelson Mandela is the greatest man alive. Today he turned 88 - eighty-eight! - and he blew out all of his own candles.
I saw Madiba speak live once, three years ago, at the 46664 Concert at Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town. The concert's slogan was 'Give One Minute Of Your Life To AIDS' and was similar to the Live Aid and Band Aid concerts, in that it featured plenty of artists all raising money for a very worthy cause.
Beyonce and Annie Lennox and Yusaf Islam and Peter Gabriel and Bono and The Edge were all present, but the person I was most stoked to see was definitely Nelson Mandela. What a man. He was 85 at the time - an age when most of us would either be pushing up daisies or playing Bingo for cake in the old age home. But not Mandela. Nope - he was shuffling away to the tunes (many of which my own mother would find too trendy and too loud) before he alighted onto the stage to give the best speech I've ever heard.
The thing that struck me, is how he just never, ever stops fighting, and how much he's prepared to give and forgive for the sake of others. After conquering Apartheid and the segregation issues in South Africa, after spending 27 years in a minute prison cell, Mandela emerged full of forgiveness, and ready to embrace reconciliation. I don't think I would've been big enough to do that. And then, three years ago, when he could've been chilling in his mansion, munching on free food, and generally leaving our dirty, messy world to its own devices, he was crusading and campaigning against the biggest threat our country has ever faced: AIDS. He doesn't have to be bugged by the epidemic: he'll never contract the virus himself, and will be gone from this world soon enough to not need to care where it's going.
But Mandela does care, and he puts all of his energy into caring, and that's why we love him. Hip-hip hurrah!
posted by Karen Little @ 9:31 PM,
19 Comments:
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At 10:08 PM,
Zen Wizard said...
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Oh, Mandy--you came and you gave without takin'!
And I need you today... -
At 10:49 PM,
Karen Little said...
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Dude, we don't call him Mandy. Mandy is a girl's name.
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At 11:21 PM,
michael said...
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Happy Birthday Duderator.
Wow, was that 4664 concert three years ago? My, how the time flies. But yeah, 88. Quite an achievement! -
At 11:26 PM,
winters said...
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A great man. I remember watching on tv the day he was released. Amazing...
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At 2:54 AM,
Trundling Grunt said...
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I'm always amazed at his gentleness. With everything he has been through there never seems to be a note of pessimism or bitterness in him. I would love to have seen him speak.
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At 3:50 AM,
Spinning Girl said...
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Hurrah!
And seems some of my favorite people were all at the party! -
At 4:03 AM,
ChickyBabe said...
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Incredible man... and he looks so good for his age!
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At 4:22 AM,
Viking054 said...
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That's one cliche that you don't need to be ashamed of. I'd love to hear him speak someday!
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At 6:48 AM,
arcadia said...
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i'm completely with you, karen. the thing that always still gets me is the fact that one of the first people he visited when he came out of prison was verwoerd's wife - he had tea with her in orania of all places. grace. there's just no other word for it.
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At 9:01 AM,
Hal said...
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He was a great man.
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At 3:50 PM,
Blonde Vigilante said...
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Those are the people that inspire me the most. The ones that give regardless of how it will effect them. They think about the future along with the present and they aren't worried about what they will gain, they are simply worried about bettering the lives of others.
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At 7:59 PM,
gm said...
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I really like the new look of your blog!
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At 8:56 PM,
Die Muräne said...
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His forgiveness is great! Another one would come out of prison full of hate and anger...
Big man, respect -
At 5:19 PM,
~d (tilde) said...
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Ummm.
What DO you call him?
Happy B-day, dude-io! -
At 5:36 PM,
The Electric Orchid Hunter said...
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Cool new look! You'll have to show me how to do some of these things: I really like the tabs.
They must cryo-preserve him when he goes, so I can resurrect the man as soon as I discover the secret to eternal youth. I'm sure I left it here somewhere among all my test tubes and glow-in-the-dark chemicals... -
At 1:52 AM,
Trundling Grunt said...
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Just stopped by and saw the new design - your toes? It is very cool and damn clever!
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At 3:31 AM,
~d (tilde) said...
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OOOH! TOOTSIES! I LOVE THEM!
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At 1:08 PM,
missy said...
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88! He looks much younger, doesn't he?
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At 5:32 PM,
curfur said...
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I was at that concert! I have met so many people in the time since who'd been there. Maybe not such a coincidence, 7 stages of separation n all; anyway.
